


The Full Metal BioChemist

by caffeinated_otto



Category: Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood & Manga
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-04-11
Updated: 2020-05-09
Packaged: 2021-03-01 23:46:50
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 4
Words: 6,967
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23585584
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/caffeinated_otto/pseuds/caffeinated_otto
Summary: Ed and Al are modern teenagers trying to cure their mother and wake her from a coma for the last three years. To achieve this goal, the brothers have to deal with high school, extra projects and an internship in the country's biggest medicine company, A-medics. While doing all these, the boys find out about the corruption inside the A-medics and its dark plans for creating a miraculous medicine.
Relationships: Edward Elric/Winry Rockbell, Mei Chan | May Chang/Alphonse Elric, Riza Hawkeye & Roy Mustang
Comments: 2
Kudos: 10





	1. The Interview

**Author's Note:**

  * For [everyone reading this :)](https://archiveofourown.org/gifts?recipient=everyone+reading+this+%3A%29).

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Ed and Al are modern teenagers trying to wake their mother up from a coma for the last three years. To achieve this goal, the brothers have to deal with high school, extra university classes and a part-time internship in the country's biggest medicine company, A-medics. While doing all these, the boys find out about the corruption inside the A-medics and its dark plans for creating a miraculous medicine.

Two high school students were casually walking in a corporate building, the headquarters of A-medics. A- medics was the biggest medical firm in the country. Its classy building was both an artistic and a scientific masterpiece. The floors of the corridor were made of grey marble and were illuminated by glass panels on the ceiling. It was possible to see the cold grey light coming from the glass panels above. Grey interior design and the deadpan faces of many scientists with white aprons passing by the corridors made the environment seem incredibly cold and grey. Whatever these scientists were doing in this grey building, it was some serious business. Adults stuff as some might call it.

Nevertheless, these two students kept walking with their backpacks and excited chattering. The shorter one was wearing a red jacket with the pins of some non-popular rock brands attached to it. His long blond hair was loosely braided on his back. The taller one was wearing a metallic grey raincoat. His hair was blond as well but a slightly lighter tone than the other boy. He had a short hairstyle and a considerably more optimistic attitude.

“Brother, can you believe we are actually here? We made it to the headquarters! I still can’t believe we are finally here!”

“Calm down Al, yes we made it. But this is barely the beginning, we have a lot to do if we want to get what we want.”

“Right. Oh, I think we arrived at the office brother. After getting lost multiple times though.”

"Yeah, but it is not our fault this freaking building is designed like a huge labyrinth."

The two brothers came to a stop next to a fancy office door. The name tag read “R. Mustang”. They looked at each other nervously for a moment. Then the shorter boy reached out for the door. After the sound of knocking, a deep male voice came from the office:

“Come in.”

The brothers stepped in the modern-looking office. It was a large room with a minimalistic style in general but it was incredibly messy. There were papers all over the desk. The only decorative items in the rooms were a plain was and a creepy painting on the wall. Al gulped at the scary painting on the wall depicting a bloody war scene. Why would anyone need to hang such a thing in their office? By the desk, a man that looked like he was in his twenties was standing with a frown on his face. Something told Alphonse that the man didn’t change that expression really often. He couldn't make eye contact with all the tension in the room so he focused on a specific object on the man's desk. A poor cube-shaped stress squeeze toy was lying on the desk to add up to the aggressive executive look. Great, he had anger issues as well. How amazing. The man kept staring at the boys with his glazing black eyes for a few seconds that felt like hours to Al. Then the man spoke:

“So are you the Elric brothers?”

“Yes, sir. I am Edward Elric and he is my brother Alphonse Elric.” said the boy with a red jacket.

The man took a paper lying on his messy desk and looked at it as if trying to confirm something. He scratched his nape with a confused frown on his face.

“But here it says, Edward is 15 and Alphonse is 14 years old. Aren’t you the younger one?”

Edward’s eyebrow twitched with annoyance and anger as he responded while gritting his teeth. Damn it puberty and calcium deficiency.

“No, sir. I am the older one.” Don’t say it, Ed said to himself. Don’t.

“But aren’t you…” Nope. Stop it, please. “ too short?”

Oh no, Al said to himself.

“Excuse me sir in advance sir but,” Ed said in a polite voice and continued, “ WHO ARE YOU CALLING SHORT. I AM A YOUNG SCIENTIST WHO IS ACTIVELY STILL GROWING. IF I AM GROWING A BIT SLOWER BECAUSE I DON'T DRINK MILK, THAT DOESN'T MEAN I AM AND WILL BE SHORT OR A MIDGET,” and he finished by adding a very polite “thank you very much.”

The man seemed surprised for a while and Alphonse hopelessly waited to be kicked out for a while when he heard the man laughing. The tension in the room seemed to calm down as the man stopped laughing to speak with a smile on his face. “Well, that was surprising. You really are an aggressive one, aren’t you? I am Professor Mustang by the way. I am the head of the research and development department. I am here to have an interview with you two personally. If you pass this interview you will get to be tested by the CEO and founder of this company, Mr. Bradley. For some reason, he seems to be specifically interested in you, kids.” Mustang said curiously looking at the boys while trying to figure out what was so special about them that Bradley was interested in them. Then he briefly looked back at his paper and sat by his desk, ready to take notes.

“We as A-medics don’t have any interns, let alone high school students, in our research labs. But I see here that both of you have exceptional academic success and are currently taking some university classes about chemistry along with your normal highschool curriculum. Is that so?”

“Y-yes, sir,” Al said nervously. “We are really interested in chemistry and its uses in medicine production.”

“Exactly,” said Mustang with a slight frown turning back to his face. “But why? What is your motivation for working so hard in a difficult area, advanced biochemistry at a young age?”

The brother looked at each other. Al nodded to Ed and Ed turned to Mustang with a solemn expression.

“Our mother… She has been suffering from an unknown disease for three years now. We want to learn what caused her illness and cure her. She is currently in a vegetative state and none of the doctors we talked with could give a proper diagnosis” said Ed.

“We…we just want to see our mother’s smile again and for that, we have been working on advanced biochemistry nonstop for the last three years,” said Al.

“I see,” said Mustang while taking notes on his paper thoughtfully.

“We will turn back to you within a week. If we don’t, it means you weren’t selected for the internship program,” said Mustang while standing up from his desk. He started to walk to the door to show the way.

“Wait, that was all?” asked Ed confused. Al looked worried about how short the interview lasted. Were they that unqualified?

“Yes, have a great day, gentlemen and keep up the good work,” said Mustang opening the door. The boys left and Mustang stood there looking at them while they disappeared through the seemingly endless corridor.

Damn, he thought. He has seen many people trying to climb up the ranks by simply trying to make others feel pity for them. But these boys were different. Especially that boy, Edward, had these eyes burning with some sort of anger that kept him going. The boys weren't lost in depression and self-pity as many other hopeless cases he has seen both as customers and co-workers. The brothers, on the other hand, used their past trauma and sadness as a fuel to keep them going and that was why Mustang knew they wouldn’t ever give up on getting their mother back.


	2. Buzz-ling News

Al was worried. 

It was a normal thing for him really, the dynamic between him and Ed worked that way. Ed’s rant was obviously disrespectful and the fact that they were mere high school students didn’t help them look professional. But they were supposed to be respectful to their elders and executives to be seen as a perfect candidate. However, things didn’t go that way when Mustang called Ed short. Their interview lasted for 10 minutes tops and that meant they were either too good or too bad. Al believed in the latter option, honestly. 

Al was lost in thoughts as they went into the metro station and got into the line that went to Resembool. Resembool was the neighborhood where the brothers and their mother used to live. But now that their mother was staying in the Resembool State Hospital, the brothers were staying in Pinako’s house. Pinako was a very close friend of their parents and she lived with her grand-daughter Winry, a fifteen-year-old girl that has been friends with the brothers since they were babies. The three of them went to the same high school and spent most of their time together. At least they used to before her mother got ill. 

“Don’t worry Al, we are going to make it. And even if we don’t, there are thousands of other medical companies out there. Am I right?” said Ed while he leaned on the glass door to not to fall when the train started moving. 

“You are right brother, but Amedics is the biggest one out there and you know about their advanced tech. And they are working on this miraculous medicine that might be our only chance to save our mother. It’s just that… I really want this internship.” said Al with a slightly trembling voice, looking down to his feet.  
“I wouldn’t worry about it, Al,” said Ed while slightly punching Al’s shoulder. “We are good at what we do and if this Mustang jerk can’t see it he is either blind or too stupid to be an executive. Or both. So I wouldn’t worry if I were you, Al.” said Ed in a reassuring voice.

“Thanks, Ed,” said Alphonse with a smile on his face. 

They got off the train and climbed the stairs up to the street. Resembool was very different from the city center. It was greener and way less modern. There weren’t any apartments or skyscrapers like Amedics headquarters. Many trees and gardens made the area seem like a suburban neighborhood even though it wasn’t that far away from the city center. Especially after the metro station was built, the way to the city center had become a 30 minutes’ distance. 

Brothers walked through the streets until they came next to a large, old house with a garden. The garden was filled with dry grass and bushes since it was August and the autumn was about to come. The dried plants didn’t make the house seem neglected though. The building was used actively and apparently it was a workplace and a living place at the same time. The first floor had a garage door and a wooden sign that said “Rockbell Mechanics”. 

The brothers walked to the open garage door from which they saw a blond girl working on a large thing while listening to some loud rock music from her headphones. There was a large desk in the middle of the room with many metal pieces and technical equipment on it. The girl was sitting on a wooden stool and working on a large thing that seemed like an old car engine. There was a really old car that seemed like it belonged to the junkyard parked in the garage as well. It used to be a really cool car, a red Cadillac probably, but it was in a really bad state because of a really bad incident. The outer layer was unrecognizable with fire marks and dislocated sections. The doors were wrinkled like pieces of aluminum foil, and well, it lacked a functioning engine apparently. The girl looked very focused while she was working on the engine with her wrench. From her safety glasses, it was possible to see her focused blue eyes and her brain trying to find ways to return this beast back to life. The oil stain marks on her cargo pants and crop top showed that she really wasn’t a type of girl that would be scared to get her hands dirty. 

“Hey Winry,” said Ed casually. Winry wasn’t hearing him though. So Ed tried again but by shouting this time. 

“HEY WINRY,” Well, she obviously heard that. She removed her earphones and frowned at the boy. “Why the hell are you shouting Ed?” she said angrily. Al thought that it isn’t such a good idea to make Winry angry at her garage. Her wrench seemed too threatening in her hand and so he stepped back a little to avoid any certain wrench flying to his face. 

“I was shouting because you weren’t hearing me, dummy,” Ed said. “What are you listening to anyway?”

“Arctic Monkeys, they released a new song this afternoon.” 

“Oh, are you kidding me?” said Ed with an excited voice. “Come on let me listen as well. Pretty please?” 

“Fiiine,” she said while removing the headphones from her smartphone so that all the room would be able to enjoy the loud teen music. Al rolled his eyes and smiled at his brother going crazy over a new song. He never got how Ed and Winry liked Rock music anyways, Al was always more into softer pop or indie music. Arctic Monkeys were fine though, they were at least doing indie rock. 

Boys and Winry sat around the desk until the song was over. Then Winry removed her safety glasses and rubbed off the oil on her hands with a towel nearby.   
“So,” she said. “How was the interview?”

The boys looked at each other, then at Winry. Al sighed loudly as he remembered the little catastrophe.

“It was alright,” Ed said not that convincingly. “It wasn’t the best but that Mustang guy was kind of a jerk. But apparently a smart jerk that is the head of the RD department so it is a good sign that an executive spoke with us personally. He also said Bradley was specifically interested in us sooo…”

“Yeah, and Ed shouted at him for calling him short,” said Al.

“You did WHAT?”

“Well, he was being rude, ok? It’s not my fault the guy is a jerk,” said Ed while scratching his head nervously. 

“Oh my god, Ed, why are you this immature? You big dummy, you don’t just go to the headquarters of the biggest company in the country and shout at its executives!” Then she started laughing. Ed and Al joined her as well.

“Well, we can’t change what has been done,” said Al. “And don’t people say that in an interview they look for unique personalities? That rant sounded pretty unique to me.”  
They kept joking about the event and laughed at Ed for being such a moron until they heard someone call for Winry.

“Winry, help me with the dinner, won’t you? Bring the boys with you as well if they are with you. It’s Ed’s turn to set the table today.” they heard someone call.  
Ed groaned and slammed his face to the desk as Winry said they were coming. Al laughed at Ed’s reaction and said he would help as well. So the three of them left the garage to prepare the dinner. 

Once they left the garage, the design of the house changed immediately. The garage was a large and busy looking working environment but once they passed the door separating the corridor and the garage, they stepped into a rustic looking cozy house. The living room at the end of the corridor had too many pillows for its own good. And the kitchen next door was decorated with many jars of herbs and decorated plates hanging on the walls. There, an old lady was busy stirring a pot of food on the stove. It smelled like mushroom stew and the smell took all the grumpy energy out of Ed. His stomach growled and the woman turned to look at the boys after she heard the sound.

“Hello, boys. Al, why don’t you come here and stir the stew while I make the salad?” said the old woman. She had her glasses on and wore an apron on her brown dress. Her sleeves were curled back to reveal her muscular lower arms that were perhaps a bit too muscular for an old lady that liked hanging decorative plates on her wall.   
“Sure Granny Pinako,” said Al stepping in the kitchen.

“Wait a second, did you wash your hands?” said Pinako with a slightly threatening voice that made Al turn right back to the corridor followed by Ed and Winry. They came back after washing their hands and started to prepare dinner. 

Winry took the cake out of the oven while Pinako prepared the salad, Al cooked the stew and Ed set the table. In less than thirty minutes they were ready to eat. The sun was down and it was a pleasant late summer evening. Den was barking at the cicadas that were singing in the warm and damp garden. 

“So how was your day?” Pinako asked Winry and the brothers.

“Well…” said Ed. “We had this interview with Amedics finally. It wasn’t perfect and it lasted a bit too short but I guess it could have gone worse.”

“Yeah, but they also said Mr. Bradley was personally interested in our interview so that’s good news,” said Al, ever being the optimistic one out of the two.

“I wouldn’t worry if I were you, Ed,” said Pinako. “If what Al just said is true, it means they see something in you boys, which isn’t surprising really. I am glad they are giving you the credit you deserved for all those sleepless nights of studying.” Ed made some agreeing sounds while Al thanked Pinako for the compliment.

“Well, how was your day Winry? You directly went to the garage after coming from school, I hardly saw your face,” asked Pinako.

“It was nice I guess,” said Winry “I am working on that car I found in the junkyard. So I think I am making progress even though it is not much with the damage in the engines and burn marks. But nothing that can’t be fixed. Who would even throw away their Cadillac though? It doesn’t make any sense!”

“The real question is who would try to fix a car that obviously belongs in a junkyard,” Ed said. 

“Hey! Stop talking like that about Cherry Bomb!” replied Winry half shouting and pointing her spoon to Ed threateningly.

“It has a name now?” Ed said, smirking. “How many hours do you spend on it anyways? It is practically destroyed, you know. Humans can’t bring the dead back to life. You are dedicating all your free time on it. Why won’t you just get a cheaper car as normal people do?”

“It is none of your business, you chemistry freak. Cadillac’s are beauties of mechanical engineering and the best thing humanity has ever come up with,” said Winry, taking Ed’s piece of cake as a way of revenge.

“Get your hands off my cake, you mechanic freak,” said Ed trying to reach out for the plate. But Winry had the advantage of being taller so she lifted the plate over her head where Ed can’t reach it. Al watched the two childishly fight over the slice of cake and smiled. Pinako’s house felt like home, it really did. But at times like this Al couldn’t help looking at the window, to the direction where his mother’s hospital is, and wonder how much better it could have been if they had his mother with them, chattering and eating. Den walked into the room and as if it sensed Al’s silent sadness, rubbed his head to Al’s hand. Al petted Den’s head and came back to not too bad but bitter reality. It was at that moment Al felt a buzz in his pocket where his cellphone was. Ed was distracted by his own phone buzzing as well so he stopped fighting with Winry and curiously looked at his phone. 

Boys were silent for a while as they read the title of the mail they received. “Amedics: application decision”. Al held his breath as he clicked the link in the mail and read the web page that appeared. He read it again, and again, and again.

“Am I reading this correct brother?” asked Al, his voice trembling.

“Yes Al, I guess we are…” replied Ed with his golden eyes wide open.  
Winry and Pinako looked at each other with confusion and worry as the boys kept looking at their screens, mesmerized. 

“What is it, Ed? Al?” asked Winry, trying to lean to Ed’s phone to see the message. “Is it from Amedics? Were you guys chosen for the internship? Is it really that surprising? I told you guys you were more than qualified-”

“No,” Ed said with a low voice. “We haven’t been accepted to the internship program...” Winry then frowned and prepared herself to give a motivational speech. Until Ed made her even more confused than before.

“We are chosen to work in the research departments as official scientists.”


	3. Equvalent Exchange

Ed couldn’t sleep that night. How could he? He was a freaking a wage-earning scientist in Amedics. He honestly thought he had been hacked when he first saw the mail. But the mail was real enough. The site addressed them as _Professors_ and told them that they would officially start working next week but were required to come to the labs regardless of orientation. They haven't even graduated from high school, yet they carried the title of professor, just like Professor Mustang. But Edward didn’t care about any of these. The small writings at the end said they had access to the confidential research data of the company and that they would be funded by the company if they had any project ideas. This meant they finally could access the research opportunities that could bring their mother back. Maybe the necessary research data was in the bookshelves somewhere in the building. He could feel his heart racing fast from excitement. Excitement and hope made his heartbeat as if he just drank 10 cans of energy drink.

He kept turning in his bed to find a comfortable position where he could sleep but failed. So, as he did pretty often for the last three years, he silently got out of his bed and tiptoed to the desk in his and Al’s bedroom. He turned on the study light and started reading. He read and read for hours while taking notes to a small black notebook occasionally. Biting the back of his pencil flipping pages rapidly as if he is reading an exciting novel, he studied chemistry until the sky started to lighten up a little. He fell asleep, his face on the chemistry textbook. Al woke up from an uneasy sleep to find his brother drooling over the book they borrowed from their teacher. It was already 6 am and their alarm would go off in half an hour but Al decided to let his brother sleep a little more since he spent most of the night working. 

Al changed into a greyish blue hoodie and jeans and took his backpack before going downstairs. Nobody was up yet so he decided to make some tea for himself and coffee for his brother and Winry. Winry always liked some milk in his coffee when Ed liked it as dark as his soul with 5 sugars. (Because who cares about health right?) He rolled his sleeves to start preparing breakfast. 

While waiting for the kettle to boil the water, he opened the kitchen window and breathed in the chilly morning air. The autumn was slowly coming and that always made Alphonse happy. He remembered the times when he would go outside with his mother and brother to collect dry leaves when he was little. He smiled but then almost immediately grimaced at the thought of her mother, lying in her bed motionless. He sighed and took out a biochemistry book from his backpack. He read while the alarm went off, Ed groaned loudly from upstairs and came downstairs with a typical grumpy face. Winry was right next to her. She was carelessly pretty with her denim jacket and white shirt combined with her black skirt. And Ed was a mess. His hair was neatly braided as always but a rebellious piece of hair was standing up from the top of his head. He was wearing a red band shirt or attempted to wear one anyway. His golden eyes were reddened by sleep deprivation and had huge dark circles under them. The label was on the front of the shirt and the stitches were visible. Al briefly looked up from his book and turned back to reading while calmly stating, “Brother, your t-shirt inside-out. And there is a pen mark on your nose.” Ed frowned at that as if he was incapable of understanding human speech and Winry giggled. She rubbed the mark on his nose to which All looked up from his book raised his eyebrows to his brother. Ed, sleep-deprived and confused blushed and stuttered:

“W-winry, stop that! I got it, give me a second,” said Ed as red as his band shirt. 

Al liked messing with his brother once in a while. Ed and Winry were mocked about being a couple all the time. Ed would brush that away in the past but as he grew up, he slowly realized that, well, maybe Winry was pretty. He would still fight and talk normally with Winry of course, they knew each other forever after all. But a mere suggestion of Al or any other third person was enough to make Ed go red like a litmus paper in acid. 

“Wow Ed, look at you! Did you even go to bed yesterday?” asked Winry with a worried voice. Ed with a relatively less red face answered while rubbing his eyes:

“I had homework.”

“No you didn’t,” said Winry, frowning, “You finish school work in thirty seconds. There isn’t any assignment in this whole universe that can make you have an all-nighter.”

“Don’t believe me if you don’t want to,” said Ed going to the bathroom to change. 

“It is the Amedics acceptance right?” asked Winry. “He is getting nervous about it. But why doesn’t he talk to me about it? You two never do, but if you did maybe I could help in some way. I just don’t get why you act this mysterious all the time…” said Winry slowly sitting down and cupping her face with her hands. Al sighed and closed his book. He understood Winry’s concerns but he and Ed didn’t want to reflect the sadness and stress they were facing to granny and Winry. He looked at Winry with sad golden eyes for a short second and Winry hoped to get some explanation.

“Ed reflects his emotions by his words, but by his actions. He might seem like he doesn’t care because he doesn’t speak to you about some things, but actually he doesn’t speak about them  _ because  _ he cares too much about you. Same goes for granny, we are genuinely grateful that you let us stay here with you and really, you are already helping us so much. Now, I made some coffee for you and Ed and boiled some eggs. One of them is for granny though. You guys should eat fast or we will be late.” said Al, always being the older brother out of the two. 

“Ok, mom…” Winry said in a fake nagging way. 

“Hey!” he said pouting.

“Al, today we should visit the teacher after school. I finished the book she gave us, I’ll summarize it to you on the way,” said Ed, with a correctly worn rock-band t-shirt. Al could now see the Muse logo on the t-shirt. Typical Ed. 

They walked to the metro station chatting about random things. Winry was judging Ed for having five cubes of sugar in his coffee. She was right too, it was unhealthy and when Ed asked Al to support him, he simply defended green tea and received groans from the two. Then the tree laughed at the stupidity of the whole conversation. 

The subway took 15 minutes and so they were at school in half an hour. Al left Winry and Ed to go to his locker. Then he left to go to his 9th-grade chemistry classes with advanced chemistry books in his backpack. Their teacher started to explain the origin of chemistry.

“Chemistry,” the teacher said, “Comes from alchemy. Can any of you tell me what is the first law of alchemy? Come on, we talked about it last class, did you forget this quickly? Alphonse, could you please answer?”,

All looked up from the book he was reading in the morning and quickly answered, “ Humankind cannot gain anything without first giving something in return. To obtain, something of equal value must be lost. That is  **Alchemy's** first law of Equivalent Exchange. In those days, we really believed that to be the world's one and only truth.”

The teacher looked at Al surprised for a while after the perfect answer and smiled at him with admiration.

“Thank you, Alphonse. It is nice to see at least someone does their class readings.” said the teacher.

Oh, Al did his readings alright. From Alchemy to herbal treatments, from chemistry to alchemy. The equivalent exchange meant he had to work hard as hell to get results. He and Ed knew it very well.


	4. Izumi

Al was walking down the street with Ed and Winry. The classes were over at last, and as his brother told him as well, the first day of high school wasn’t half bad. It was a bit boring, yes, but being together with his peers felt nice. Al was a bit shy throughout the day so he couldn’t talk with many people except that other student that sat next to him during class discussion. 

“Tomorrow the school will hold the club fair. Last year you managed to be elected as the robotics club president right? You excited Winry?” said Ed grinning while slightly poking Winry with his elbow. 

“Weeell…” said Winry thoughtfully “To be honest, I am. I have been dreaming of this position since the beginning of high school, you know… But I have a special plan for tomorrow’s presentation so I am pretty confident about the fair. I bet there will be way more people signing up to my club than that lame chemistry club at least.” replied Winry with a matching grin.

“Oh, shut up. And I didn’t even want to be the president of that club, the chemistry teacher forced me to. You know I have to do whatever he tells me to do because of the academic scholarship I got for science. I am the science department’s errand dog now.” said Ed miserably slouching.

“Stop acting like you don’t like it chemistry freak. You spend every single hour of your life working on chemistry anyways, what is one more hour after school?” said Winry in a mocking voice. Ed groaned with annoyance. 

“You are right about that Winry,” said Al with a smile. “But Ed and I work on more advanced chemistry most of the time so it is understandable Ed sees the club as a bit of a waste of time.” 

“Thanks, Al, I appreciate it.”

“Don’t get me wrong I still think you shouldn’t complain about it,” said Al, raising his eyebrows but still smiling angelically.

“Damn both of you…teaming up against me...” groaned Ed. Winry and Al laughed at the visible frustration of the young genius. 

Al and Ed walked Winry to the subway and went on a different train to go to their teacher. Al hadn’t forgotten about the book in his backpack. How could he? He knew their teacher would have killed them if he didn’t bring the book back. 

The brothers got off on the Dublith station. Al was getting nervous every second they got closer to their destination and he could see Ed was sweating as well. Both of them were thinking about the inevitable close future. They were walking knowing they were walking to their demise. 

Finally, they came to a stop near a door with a sign that said Amestris State University. The guard of the campus entrance was sleeping like a baby. Ed came closer to the booth and cleared his throat to wake the guard up but the man seemed to be still sleeping. Ed cleared his throat louder this time, half shouting. Maybe he was a bit too loud since the guard jumped with fear and nearly fell off his chair. Al spoke to the terrified man with a kind voice and a soft smile:

“Excuse me, sir, we are looking for Professor Doctor Curtis. If she asks please tell her that the Elric brothers are here.” 

The guard looked at the brothers for a second with his sleepy eyes then he sat up quickly. “Ah, yes, the Elric brothers! Sure thing please follow me.” 

Brothers walked through the campus on a warm summer evening. The sun was still up but the weather was a bit cooler than the rest of the day. Ed looked at the university buildings as Al watched his angry expression. Ed was always angry, even before their mother’s coma. He was always angry with a fire burning behind his golden eyes, providing him with an infinite amount of energy to keep fighting and learning. Al knew his brother was mostly self-taught just like himself. They learned the basics of chemistry together through their father’s library. Their father, that was what his brother was so angry about, wasn’t it? Al remembered seeing Ed reading through thick books to mimic their father when they were too young to even read. Their mother thought Ed was doing so because of his intelligence. He was, in fact, seeking appreciation from their father but that appreciation, that pat on the head never came. The brothers’ mysterious father was as cold as ice even towards his sons. He was just as cold if not colder the day he left their house. Al was so small back then but he remembered waking up in the middle of the night with his older brother to see their father by the door, talking with their crying mother. It was all like a dream for Al, a blurred nightmare that his brain had chosen to forget in the following years. But it was clear that Ed didn’t have such a choice. His anger was what drove him all the way up, like buoyancy it kept him from sinking down after their mother’s coma. Especially looking at the campus buildings, Al could see the source of his brother’s never-ending rage, their father. Van Hohenheim was a former professor at the Amestris State University before he suddenly left the city in a single night. Neither their mother nor Hohenheim’s best friend Pinako had any idea where the man had gone. He never came back, even after the brothers’ mother got into a coma. He had left them penniless and the brothers’ mother Trisha had to work in two jobs during day and night to make up for the expenses of the house. With all the exhaustion and some other unknown external factors, Trisha caught an unknown and incurable disease. All of these were Hohenheim’s fault, and for that, Ed despised him.

The guard finally stopped in front of the chemistry building. Ed and Al knew their way to the building but since they weren’t official students in the university, the guard had to come with them every time. Ed found it annoying when Al only felt bad for the underpaid man. 

Inside the building, in a lab, there was a professor. A mad scientist in a lab coat creeping around a dim lab working on an ominous project. Any bystanders would be terrified by the mad smile of the figure in the lab coat. If they knew better they would turn back and run to wherever they came from. Just the perfect teacher for Elric brothers. 

“Teacher!” said Al cheerfully. In fact, he was petrified with the reaction that awaited him and his brother. A single drop of sweat ran down his temple. Ed was nervously laughing next to his brother. “H-hello teacher!” said Ed. “H-how are you?”

Izumi Curtis turned back with a dramatic swoosh of her lab coat. She was wearing her notorious WC slippers, murdering the modern fashion single-handedly. Her hair was tied back to reveal her gleaming eyes. There was sheer evil in those eyes and Ed made a weird scared noise when the mad scientist’s gaze met his. Izumi got near the windows and opened the shades to light up the dusty lab. With the dust particles flying all around the lab, Izumi started coughing wildly. Al ran to the woman to help her while asking, “Teacher, are you alright? Should I bring water? Teacher?!” frantically. The woman reached into her lab coat’s pocket to get out a plastic object and breathe in it. 

“Damn that asthma again!” shouted Izumi catching her breath. Al and Ed stood by the door looking at each other awkwardly as the middle-aged professor tried to breathe. They were having a silent discussion over who would be the one to give the news. Al gave Ed one of his best puppy eyes that probably looked more like a “please don’t kill me brother” kind of expression. It didn’t matter to Al though, he wasn’t interested in getting shot by a pan in the face. Unfortunately, Ed was immune to those looks.

“Sooo… what are you working on teach?” asked Ed leaning over the table next to the door. There was a scratch paper on it with many complex ingredients written on it. Al squinted to see the formulas clearer to realize they were… food supplies?

“A recipe. A quiche recipe that I have been working on. It is always either too sweet or too salty… I need to balance the acidity to make it a bit sorer too… It is close but it should be perfect, you see.” said Izumi in an excessively serious tone for someone talking about quiche recipes. 

“I see..” said Al awkwardly. He was passing his weight from one foot to another, a panic dance that screamed how much he wanted to leave the building. “We came to leave your book! It was great by the way, a bit complex with all the quantum atom theories but we managed to read through it with the help of the notes we took from the previous materials. Thanks again teacher!” said Al a bit too fastly. “Y-yes! So see you later, teach!” said Ed anxiously while fidgeting his fingers. The brothers turned back simultaneously to leave the lab when Izumi shouted: “Wait one second there, where do you think you are going?!”

Ed yelped at that. Al hopelessly turned back with a sigh. Two pairs of golden eyes were looking at Izumi’s with terror at its purest form. 

“I sent you two an email last Friday. I told you to come yesterday as well. Why didn’t you?” asked Izumi, putting her hands on her hands as if she was the boys’ mother scolding them.

“W-we had h-homework,” replied Ed, not so convincingly.

“Homework?” asked Izumi, glaring at the poor boy with a braid. 

“Homework,” confirmed Al, screaming internally under his neutral expression.

“DON’T YOU DARE LIE TO ME YOU BRATS!” Izumi roared. The boys shrank in their places. Al knew this was coming and so he decided the sooner it was over, the better.

“We… We were in the Amedics interview…” said Al as if he was confessing he broke a vase. “We know, you clearly told us not to apply for it,” he added before Izumi could say anything in reply. “But it is our only choice now… Treatment for mother's condition might be sitting somewhere in that company, and we had to try...”

“It was my idea mostly teacher,” said Ed, looking at the floor.

“No, that is not true!” Al protested. “We both agreed on it! It is not only Ed’s fault, I was the one that made the application.”

“Did you… did you get in?” asked Izumi with a dark and unreadable expression. 

“Y-yes,” said Ed gulping with nervousness.

“I see…” said Izumi slowly. 

Ed and Al stood by the door even more awkward than before. They held their breaths and looked at their feet like the couple of naughty children they were. 

“You are smart individuals that can make their own decisions and if your guardians aren’t against it either, there is nothing else I can say but to warn you again,” said Izumi with a sigh. “I told you about the ongoing theories, about what might be going on on the other side of those shiny sliding doors… You are risking too much, are you really ready to serve these men whom you know nothing about? The information they provide to the media is too little when there are all these rumors about their ungodly experiments… Are you ready to take part in this at such a young age? I advise that you don’t, as I have told you so many countless times, with the years of scientific experience I have gained.” Izumi looked tired. So tired that it broke Al’s heart. He knew their teacher wanted their best but he also knew that she understood their hopelessness. In that moment of guilt and desperation, something unexpected happened. Izumi reached out and hugged the brothers, holding them tight in her caring arms. Both Ed and Al didn’t know what to do for a moment looking at each other with widened eyes.

“Just be careful boys, alright?”


End file.
